Flyers, Hakstol rolling with winning lineup tonight against Vegas

Dave Hakstol and the Philadelphia Flyers host the Vegas Golden Knights for the first time in team history tonight. Following the same method they have all season, Hakstol has decided to roll with the same winning lineup as he had on Saturday against the Jets.

Despite only winning by one goal, the Flyers put together one of their best efforts in a while to get the win against the Jets. All 12 forwards and six defensemen played to their potential or above, and they stayed at that level for almost all of the 60 minutes. Yes, there were a few shaky moments here or there, but for the most part the Flyers played well to get the win.

All four lines, minus Travis Konecny who was benched for Jake Voracek after his penalty, had good shifts late in the third period to close out the win. Jori Lehtera was one of the under-the-radar guys to step up, as he killed off plenty of time with a few strong shifts in the offensive zone. During the Flyers’ winning streak it seemed that Claude Giroux would always find a way to make a difference. Whether it be the breakaway goal in Ottawa, the goal off a turnover against Columbus, or various other plays, he got the job done. He did that again against the Jets.

Giroux opened the scoring for the Flyers and played solid two-way hockey the whole game. He had a corsi for over 50% against the Jets’ top pair and line in over seven minutes against them. He limited the top line to zero shots on goal in nearly eight minutes of action. The Captain now has 81 points on the season. He is riding a six-game point streak, has points in 10 of 11, and points in 14 of 16. He has 23 points (9 goals, 14 assists) in his last 16 games.

After an incredible first period and a solid finish to the game on Saturday, the coaching staff and players had nothing but positive things to say about Travis Sanheim and his game.

“He [Sanheim] just looked like a guy who got his game back a little bit and that’s the benefit of being able to go down and play strong minutes down there in different situations,” Hakstol said following the win. “That’s all a credit to him. It’s all how you handle the assignment going back there. He dug in immediately from what I am told from day one and played extremely well right from the start down there. Like I said it just looks like a guy who absolutely has his game back. He is a good player for us tonight and he helped us win.”

Sanheim spent the entire game paired next to Andrew MacDonald, who scored the eventual game-winning goal. Sanheim was allowed to play a more confident game, while MacDonald was more of a stay-at-home defender in this one. Shayne Gostisbehere and Ivan Provorov will get top pair minutes, per usual, and look to create some offense against a tough Vegas defense.

Petr Mrazek gets the start in net. He’ll be looking to build off a strong start against Winnipeg, after stopping 27 of 28 shots that came his way in a big victory. The Flyers are looking to become the second Eastern Conference team to sweep the season series against the Golden Knights this season.

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

(Photo by Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

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